Telangana rodent bite case: Doctors protest suspension of two colleagues on duty

Doctors at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) government hospital in Telangana’s Warangal district went on a lightning strike for three hours on Tuesday in protest against the termination of the contract of two of their colleagues in connection with rodents biting a patient in the intensive care unit of the hospital last week.

Sporting black badges, the doctors under the auspices of the Government Doctors’ Association boycotted their duties and sat in a dharna, and raised slogans in protest against the suspension of Dr Yakub Naik and Dr Mohammad Abeedi, who were on duty when the incidents of rodents biting the 42-year-old patient Kadarla Srinivas in the ICU on March 27 and on March 31 surfaced.

“How are the duty doctors held responsible for the movement of rodents in the ICU? Are they meant for treating the patients or catching rats in the ICU? It is the duty of the hospital sanitation staff or the contractor who is supposed to take care of the maintenance of wards,” a doctor, who preferred anonymity, said.

Srinivas, a goldsmith from Bhimaram village on the outskirts of Hanamkonda town, had been admitted to the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) of the MGM with serious lung, kidney and liver ailments on March 26. He was in a comatose condition when his brother Srikanth noticed the next day that rodents had bitten his fingers and toes on the bed.

When Srikanth brought it to the notice of the hospital staff, they applied bandage to the injured parts. On March 31, too, Srikanth noticed the movement of rats on the bed and protested the negligent attitude of the hospital management.

When the local media reported the same, the district authorities acted quickly and ordered an inquiry. Based on the report, Director of Medical Education ordered transfer of hospital superintendent Dr B Srinivas Rao and termination of the two duty medical officers – Dr Yakub and Dr Abeedi for their alleged carelessness in not identifying a patient on ventilator in the RICU in spite of him bleeding after the rodent bite.

Later, the government shifted the patient to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad for better treatment on Friday morning. However, he died on the same night.

The protesting doctors said they were recruited only for treatment of patients and not for looking after the hospital sanitation. “If we have failed in discharging our duties properly and acted carelessly or irresponsibly in treating the patients, the government can take action. How can we be held responsible for the presence of rodent in the ward?” the doctor quoted above said.

He pointed out that when the issue of movement of rats was brought to the notice of the superintendent, he had personally examined the ward and got the debris removed from there. The superintendent also issued notices to the contractor twice in the last month for not maintaining the sanitation properly, he said.

“In spite of all that, if rats bite a patient, it is the failure of the contractor and also lack of infrastructure in the hospital; and not the doctors. In fact, the government should provide proper infrastructure in the ICU,” the doctor observed.

The agitating doctors demanded that the government restore the services of the terminated doctors and revoke the transfer of the hospital superintendent immediately. “Otherwise, we will take up a statewide movement and intensify it,” they warned.

State health minister T Harish Rao could not be reached for reaction on the agitating doctors’ demands.